


I Don't Care

by TheFairysPath (friendlyneighborhoodfairy)



Series: The Path I Took (WWTDP 2018) [9]
Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Curses, Demonic Possession, Friends to Lovers, Insecurity, M/M, Making Out, Post-Avatar Arc (Fairy Tail), Romantic Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-14
Updated: 2018-10-14
Packaged: 2019-08-01 21:24:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,211
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16292081
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/friendlyneighborhoodfairy/pseuds/TheFairysPath
Summary: Gray is worried whether Natsu still wants him with the demonic marks that now crawl over his skin.(Fic #2 forWhen We Take Different PathsMLM week.)





	I Don't Care

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt = I don't care what others think + Gratsu.
> 
> This fkn fic kept me from posting all the other ones for this week lol, but now it's finally ready and I can post EVERYTHING.

Natsu ran his fingers down the marbled black marks on Gray's arm. It was eerie, striations of hot and cold; but what was weirdest of all was that the dark marks were warm, and Gray's skin was cold.

He should've known: the man wore no clothes and spent all of his time surrounded by snow and ice.

"They're…different," Gray said, watching Natsu's hand travel back up his arm to his shoulder, then down his chest. Gray inhaled stiffly.

"I like them."

When Gray looked up, one of his eyes was shot through with red.

It probably should've scared Natsu, but he found it arousing. Which wasn't helpful when he was already touching Gray's skin.

"You really—" Gray stopped.

Natsu replied by kissing him.

Gray's palm cupped the back of his neck, holding him in place, their noses colliding. This elicited a small laugh from Gray, and that,  _that_  was why Natsu wasn't concerned. This was still the same Gray he'd always known. Nothing would change that.

But the laugh quickly turned to moodiness—which was also a Gray trait—and he leaned back in to continue kissing.

Natsu wasn't opposed—he quite liked Gray's kisses, honest and harsh—but this was avoidance and he knew that. Framing Gray's cheeks, he pulled away, startled to find sadness in Gray's expression.

"I'm sorry," Gray said. "That I'm…you know. Like this."

Natsu growled automatically. That gave him an idea.

"Should I apologize for my magic too, then?" he asked. "If you have to apologize for being part demon, then I have to apologize for being part dragon, right? Because being anything less than one-hundred-percent human is sub-par? This is new to me. It's probably the draconic part of me. I didn't know that non-full-humans weren't the ideal. I mean, I fell for you, after all. And nobody else would  _ever_  fall for you, clearly. Nobody would cry raindrops every time you leave town or anything."

Gray snorted. "Please don't bring her into this."

"I'm just saying."

"Yes, alright. But still: you're  _supposed_  to be dragon-esque like that."

"Didn't you want your dad's magic? I sure as hell wanted mine. That's what this is, you know."

Gray looked contemplative for a moment.

"I never thought about that," he murmured. "And yes, I wanted it. But—stop interrupting—this isn't my father's magic. This is a curse."

"Okay,  _that's_  dramatic," Natsu said.

"No, it's the truth. This is—whatever it was called. The memory of death. It's inside me now. It fused with the demonic bits." Gray shrugged. "As far as Porlyusica knows, and she's pretty damn knowledgeable, it's never coming out."

Gray suddenly took hold of his arms.

"Natsu, are you okay?"

Natsu stared at him wide-eyed. "Huh?"

"You're breathing really fast."

"It's just…"

The memory of death.

Natsu could feel it under his skin. The wary sense of danger that was eclipsed by nothing at all: a cessation of being, death and life having no meaning and nothing existing anymore, his body being a memory he could hardly clutch onto—

And then breathing again, and staring at Gray, covered in the strange marks like black scars. And there was Gray falling over, heart thudding so solemnly, and rage taking over until Natsu wasn't even thinking anymore.

"Holy shit," Gray whispered.

Natsu's eyes snapped open.

Gray had gotten closer, staring at him from centimeters away, but his gaze was tracing across Natsu's skin like there were patterns only he could see.

And then Natsu  _felt_ them. Scales all over his face. He couldn't stop panting.

"That's really fucking hot," Gray whispered.

As Natsu stared into his eyes, trying to grasp onto reality there, Gray's lips parted and he kissed Natsu. The Dragon Slayer snatched at that, clung to the contact, trying to possess Gray's mouth and biting his lip. Gray made a sound that began as painful protest and turned into a moan.

"More," he breathed into Natsu's mouth.

Natsu wrapped his arms around Gray's waist and drew Gray to his chest. Neither of them could get enough of the other, thirsty for lips and tongue and roving hands. Gray dropped his mouth to Natsu's neck and sucked hard. As he feasted on Natsu's skin, Natsu tipped his head back and groaned, fingers curling around the rock-hard muscles by Gray's shoulders.

When Gray pulled away, leaving Natsu's throat wet and raw, he embraced Natsu and glommed onto him. It was a completely different kind of touch, but Natsu loved this just as much, the cuddling, Gray leaning on him, relying on him.

Slowly he realized: Gray's skin was all one temperature.

Peeling away from Gray (Gray grunted), he saw that both Gray's arms were a single, consistent brown.

"They're gone," he said.

Gray nodded. "They come and go. Sometimes I can control it."

Screwing his face up, darker patches began to rise on his skin.

"Does it hurt?" Natsu asked.

"Sometimes. Other times no." He caressed Natsu's face. "Yours are gone too."

"Yes, well, you started kissing me."

"That pulls you out of Dragon Force?"

"I only went  _into_  it because you were talking about  _back then._ "

Gray frowned.

"You got this way for me." Natsu's voice was shaking, and he was trying desperately to keep his magic under control. "The only reason you're marked up like this is because you…"

"I loved you."

"Yes. And you took that fucking curse full on. I can't remember that without," Natsu shuddered, "bursting into flames or worse."

"I didn't know it was traumatic for you," Gray murmured, thumb sliding gently over Natsu's lip.

"Of course it was. I loved you too. Still do."

Gray smiled, eyes crinkling up.

"Yeah. Okay."

"Okay?"

"I believe you."

"Good."

"Natsu," Gray said hesitantly, head dipping, "what do you think the others will think? The guild might have a few things to say about my curse, and you dating me while I'm like this."

"I don't care what others think. I just care about you."

"I know  _you_  don't care how I look. But I'm still—"

"—absolutely perfect," Natsu finished for him.

"I had no clue you'd be such a sap."

They grinned at each other.

"Seriously though," Natsu touched his cheek, "people will understand. The guild will always love you, Gray. You're one of us. And having some demonic curse shit occasionally scarring your skin as a result of you saving your guildmate's—your  _boyfriend's_ —life isn't going to make anyone upset. You're a fucking hero, and you need to remember that."

Gray laughed. "Thanks."

Their hands slid into each other and they turned together toward the hill beyond which the rest of the team camped.

"Boyfriend," Gray mused. "I like the sound of that."

The wonder in his voice made Natsu's chest light.

"There are other options if you don't," he joked. "Partner. Datefriend. Mate."

"Mate like on a ship?"

Natsu bared his teeth in an animalistic smile. "Like a dragon's mate."

Gray snorted as they began to walk back together, shoulders nestled comfortably and hips bumping as they walked.

"Do dragons have those?" Gray asked.

"I don't know. Igneel never had a 'special someone' while I was around. I never asked. As a kid, relationships were not something I was interested in."

"Why am I not surprised?"


End file.
